U.S. patent application number 09/942774 was filed with the patent office on 2002-08-22 for electronic market and related methods suitable for transportation and shipping services.
This patent application is currently assigned to Manugistics, Inc.. Invention is credited to Acharya, Suresh, Chu, Huai-Tsen Y., Drolet, Thomas, Katzman, Lawrence Elliot, Lanyard, Gregg, Rajagopal, Srinivas, Shaffer, Mark, Simonoff, Robert James, Soundarajan, Vinodh, Thomas, Anthony Robert, Welch, William Frank JR..
Application Number | 20020116318 09/942774 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22859537 |
Filed Date | 2002-08-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020116318 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Thomas, Anthony Robert ; et
al. |
August 22, 2002 |
Electronic market and related methods suitable for transportation
and shipping services
Abstract
The disclosed invention provides an electronic market and
related methods particularly useful for negotiating the exchange of
transportation services between shippers or carriers and shipping
customers. Embodiments include an electronic catalog-type listing
of carrier services and related rates such that buyers can purchase
services at periodically listed prices, and an electronic auction
exchange whereby buyers can bid on the available capacity of
carriers or whereby carriers can bid on shipping orders requested
by customers. In preferred embodiments, carriers and shipping
customers can take into account pre-existing business relationships
by designating other carriers and/or customers as preferred
business partners or customers. Participation in auctions or
qualification for discounted catalog rates can be limited only to
those preferred partners or customers. In a second embodiment, the
electronic market additionally enables the automatic tendering of
shipment requests to carriers and automates the monitoring of
acceptances from those carriers. A preferred version of the second
embodiment employs electronic tracking and tracing of shipments,
provides subscription based notifications, and enables integration
with accounts payable and receivable systems.
Inventors: |
Thomas, Anthony Robert;
(Middletown, MD) ; Simonoff, Robert James;
(Middletown, MD) ; Welch, William Frank JR.;
(Frederick, MD) ; Drolet, Thomas; (Germantown,
MD) ; Chu, Huai-Tsen Y.; (Havertown, PA) ;
Rajagopal, Srinivas; (Malvern, PA) ; Acharya,
Suresh; (Dowingtown, PA) ; Lanyard, Gregg;
(Falls Church, VA) ; Katzman, Lawrence Elliot;
(Bethesda, MD) ; Shaffer, Mark; (Centreville,
VA) ; Soundarajan, Vinodh; (Phoenixville,
PA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HOGAN & HARTSON LLP
IP GROUP, COLUMBIA SQUARE
555 THIRTEENTH STREET, N.W.
WASHINGTON
DC
20004
US
|
Assignee: |
Manugistics, Inc.
Rockville
MD
|
Family ID: |
22859537 |
Appl. No.: |
09/942774 |
Filed: |
August 31, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60229026 |
Aug 31, 2000 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/37 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/08 20130101;
G06Q 40/04 20130101; G06Q 30/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/37 |
International
Class: |
G06F 017/60 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electronic market for negotiating transactions regarding the
exchange of transportation services between buyers and sellers,
said electronic market comprising: an auction transaction system,
said auction transaction system being adapted to enable any one of
said buyers or said sellers to conduct auctions for the exchange of
transportation services; a catalog transaction system in electronic
communication with said auction transaction system, said catalog
transaction system being adapted to enable said buyers to post
quoted rates for various transportation services such that buyers
may review quoted rates associated with desired transportation
services; and means for said buyers and sellers to communicate with
said auction transaction system and said catalog transaction
system, said means for communicating be adapted to enable said
buyers and said sellers to interact through said catalog
transaction system and said auction transaction system, and said
buyers and said sellers being capable of designating selected other
buyers and sellers as preferred trading partners with said auction
transaction system or said catalog transaction system, and wherein
said quoted rates and said auctions can be optionally made
available to only said preferred trading partners.
2. The electronic market according to claim 1, further comprising
an execution system in electronic communication with said auction
transaction system and said catalog transaction system, said
auction system allowing buyers and sellers to execute shipping
transactions negotiated by said auction transaction system and said
catalog transaction system.
3. The electronic market according to claim 2, wherein said catalog
system allows an inquiring buyer to identify appropriate shipping
services from said posted quoted rates for a desired shipment and
said execution system sends electronic purchase orders to sellers
associated with said select ones of said appropriate shipping
services at the election of said inquiring buyer.
4. The electronic market according to claim 2, wherein said auction
shipping system allows an auction initiating party to identify
winning bids for transportation services being auctioned and said
execution system automatically sends electronic tender offers to
said auction initiating party detailing said winning bids and
associated bidders.
5. The electronic market according to claim 4, wherein said auction
initiating party can electronically accept or decline said
electronic tender offers.
6. The electronic market according to claim 2, wherein said
execution system receives status update messages regarding
scheduled and in transit shipments and said communication means
enables said buyer and sellers to review said status update
messages.
7. The electronic market according to claim 6, wherein in response
to receiving certain status update messages said execution system
initiates commands to a remote private network of a selected buyer
or seller.
8. The electronic market according to claim 7, wherein said command
is utilized by said private network to trigger accounting
transactions regarding said scheduled and in transit shipments.
9. The electronic market according to claim 7, wherein said command
comprises email messages directed to individuals associated with
said selected buyer or seller and said email reports relevant
status information to said individuals based upon roles assigned to
each of said individuals.
10. The electronic market according to claim 1, wherein said
auction transaction system further enables buyers or sellers
designated as preferred trading partners to bid in non-public and
public auctions while those buyers not designated as preferred
trading partners can bid only in public auctions.
11. The electronic market according to claim 10, wherein said
auction transaction system further enables an auction initiating
party to hold an auction that comprises a plurality of levels
wherein a first level begins said auction as a non-public auction
and a final level completes said auction as a public auction.
12. The electronic market according to claim 10, wherein said
auction transaction system further enables an auction initiating
party to hold a non-public auction that comprises a plurality of
levels wherein said designated preferred trading partners differ
for each level of said non-public auction.
13. The electronic market according to claim 12, wherein said
auction initiating party has the option of transforming said
non-public auction into a public auction if no winning bid is
submitted by said designated preferred trading partners.
14. The electronic market according to claim 1, wherein said means
for communicating comprises a web platform system in electronic
communication with said auction transaction system and said catalog
transaction system.
15. The electronic market according to claim 14, wherein said web
platform system is adapted to provide an interactive web site for
use by said buyers and said sellers, said interactive web site
being securely accessible over the Internet.
16. The electronic market according to claim 15, wherein said
interactive web site provides tracking and tracing in formation to
each buyer of shipments that are scheduled to be delivered or in
the process of being delivered by said sellers.
17. The electronic market according to claim 1, wherein said means
for communicating comprises an electronic data interchange system
in electronic communication with said auction transaction system
and said catalog transaction system.
18. The electronic market according to claim 17, wherein said
electronic data interchange system is adapted to enable electronic
communication with private computer networks of said buyers and
sellers.
19. The electronic market according to claim 18, wherein said
electronic data interchange system uploads quoted rates for various
transportation services from a private computer network of at least
one seller.
20. The electronic market according to claim 18, wherein said
electronic data interchange system downloads quoted rates to a
private computer network of at least one seller.
21. The electronic market according to claim 18, further comprising
an execution system in electronic communication with said auction
transaction system and said catalog transaction system and wherein
said electronic data interchange system sends tender offers and
purchase orders generated by said execution system electronically
to said sellers via said electronic data interchange system.
22. The electronic market according to claim 21, wherein said
execution system interacts with billing systems and messaging
systems of private networks of said buyers and said sellers through
said electronic data interchange system.
23. A method for negotiating transactions regarding the exchange of
transportation services between buyers and sellers that comprise a
market place, said method comprising establishing an electronic
exchange network that enables said buyers at their option to
schedule desired services according to transaction catalogs
published by said sellers, to place bids on transportation capacity
being auctioned by sellers in seller's auctions, or to conduct a
buyer's auction enabling sellers to place bids on the right to
perform said desired services of said buyers.
24. The method according to claim 22, wherein said electronic
exchange network enables auctions to be either non-public or
public, wherein only buyers designated by an initiator of a
non-public seller's auction as preferred trading partners can place
bids on the particular transportation capacity being auctioned in
said non-public seller's auction, and wherein only sellers
designated by an initiator of a non-public buyer's auction as
preferred trading partners can place bids on the particular right
to perform said desired services that is being in said non-public
buyer's auction.
25. The method according to claim 24, wherein said non-public
auctions are converted into public auctions if no winning bids are
received from said designated trading partners.
26. The method according to claim 24, wherein said non-public
auctions contain multiple auction levels wherein different
preferred trading partners are designated for each level.
27. The method according to claim 23, wherein winning bids in said
auctions are determined manually by an auction initiator at any
time during the auction.
28. The method according to claim 23, wherein if a winning bid for
each seller's auction is identified said electronic exchange
network automatically sends a tender offer to an initiator of said
sellers auction.
29. The method according to claim 23, wherein said electronic
exchange network enables each of said sellers to publish one or
more preferred customer catalogs that are made accessible by said
electronic exchange network only to buyers that are designated
preferred catalog customers by a publishing seller.
30. The method according to claim 23, wherein said published
transaction catalogs comprise a description of transportation
services quoted as being made available by each seller to said
buyers and associated fee rates for those services, and wherein
said buyer can identify services and rates for said desired
services by matching said quoted transaction services according to
a manner selected from the group consisting of: manually reviewing
said published transaction catalogs for sellers of interest, and
manually identifying matching services having acceptable rates for
said desired services; querying said electronic exchange network so
as to cause said network to search among said published transaction
catalogs of one or more sellers and automatically identify matching
services, and reviewing said automatically matched queried services
and identifying a desired one of said automatically matched queried
services; and identifying a desired seller and describing said
desired services and commanding said electronic exchange network to
identify matching services from said published transaction catalog
of said desired seller and to automatically select a best one of
said matched desired seller services.
31. The method according to claim 30, wherein said electronic
exchange network automatically sends a purchase order for said
matched desired seller services to said desired seller.
32. The method according to claim 30, wherein said electronic
exchange network automatically sends a purchase order for said
desired one of said automatically matched queried services to an
appropriate seller.
33. The method according to claim 30, wherein said electronic
exchange network automatically sends a purchase order for said
manually identified matched service having acceptable rates for
said desired services to an appropriate seller.
34. The method according to claim 30, wherein said electronic
exchange network automatically identifies said desired one of said
automatically matched queried services.
35. A method for conducting multiple level non-public auctions in a
transportation services market among a plurality of buyers and a
plurality of sellers, said method comprising: establishing the
format of the auction as having multiple levels of non-public
auction; defining auction parameters detailing form of acceptable
bids and an identification of a transportation service being
auctioned, said auction parameters including the designation of
certain buyers or sellers as preferred trading partners for one or
more levels of said multiple level non-public auction wherein only
those buyers or sellers designated as preferred trading partners
may bid in any one level of said multiple level non-public auction;
and for each level of said multiple level non-public auction
publishing notice to said buyers or said sellers designated as
preferred trading partners; receiving from said designated
preferred trading partners and monitoring said received bids for a
winning bid; and proceeding to a next lower level of said
non-public auction if an instruction is received to terminate a
current level.
36. The method according to claim 35, wherein said instruction to
terminate said current level of said multiple level non-public
auction comprises a manual instruction by an auction initiator.
37. The method according to claim 35, wherein said instruction to
terminate said current level of said multiple level non-public
auction is automatically given after the expiration of a set period
of time of receiving and monitoring bids for the current level
within which said winning bid was not identified.
38. The method according to claim 35, wherein said winning bid must
meet a pre-determined strike price.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 60/229,026, filed Aug. 31, 2000, the
disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its
entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a system and method for
providing an electronic market for transportation and shipping
services. More particularly, the present invention further relates
to electronic markets and related methods for facilitating the
processes of negotiating between buyers and sellers for the sale of
transportation and shipping services.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] While the ability of shippers to get parcels from the
loading dock to the final destination in shorter time spans and at
less cost has increased in recent years, businesses that rely
heavily upon independent shipping services and common carriers
still desire more efficient and lower cost transportation
solutions. The growth of shipping demand has fueled many advances
in technology that shippers and carriers have been developing. As a
result of our global and electronic economy, however, it remains
that the volume of parcels being shipped has continued to spiral
upward at a rate whereby the introduction of more efficient
shipping markets could save many industries millions of dollars
yearly.
[0004] Various approaches have been introduced in an attempt to
more efficiently handle the increased volume of parcels and the
proliferation of carrier services that are available. A majority of
these approaches have introduced systems and methods that are
targeted for internal use by single carriers to help improve that
single carrier's costs and services. For example, current known
technology allows clients of shipping carriers to track the status
of goods in transport in real time. Parcel and express carriers,
such as Federal Express.TM., the United Parcel Service.TM.
(UPS.TM.) or DHL.TM., typically assign a unique parcel
identification, known as an Air Bill number, to each delivery. This
unique designation for each parcel or order is assigned by
providing two-part forms to the shipping customer, each including a
unique, pre-printed bar code corresponding to the Air Bill number.
One part of a form is attached to the parcel, while the shipping
customer retains the other part of the form. The parcel
identification ("ID") barcode on the parcel is then optically
scanned at each stage of delivery to track the progress for the
parcel electronically. The barcode scanner communicates with a host
computer to transmit the parcel ID to a host computer. The parcel
ID and the location information of the barcode scanner are then
transmitted by the host computer to one or more web servers, each
including a database for storing a record of the parcel ID's
scanned at each location. Shipping customers can then, by running a
web browser, link through the Internet or a direct dial-up
connection to one of the service provider web servers, and thus the
parcel status database table, by specifying a URL (a "universal
resource locator" which is commonly known as a web page's address).
The URL usually points to an HTML file that is transmitted to the
transportation planning managers who are then prompted to enter the
unique parcel ID. The parcel ID is transmitted to the service
provider web server and used as search criteria by the service
provider, which returns the current location of the parcel for
display on the transportation planning managers' web browser.
[0005] When using traditional paper Air Bills, however, shipping
customers must manually record and retain the tracking numbers for
later use in looking up the status of a particular package or
shipment. Additionally, prior art systems suffer from the fact that
the customer must repeatedly re-access the URL to receive updates
as to the status of a freight movement.
[0006] Additionally, it has become increasingly more popular for
independent shipping fleets and common carriers in the freight
industry to supply Internet web sites that include published rate
information for specific services (shipping types, lanes, etc.)
offered by that carrier. The shipping customer (i.e., the entity
desiring to ship given cargo by one or more offered services) may
then navigate to the carrier's web site at his or her convenience
using a conventional web browser and obtain useful shipping and
rate information.
[0007] While this approach is advantageous in that it provides
customers with readily accessible rate and service information
around the clock, there is the inherent drawback that shipping
clients typically cannot obtain competitive rate information
without having to visit multiple carrier web sites (or by calling
those carriers who do not publish service and rate information) and
manually compare the obtained rate information. Moreover, many
carrier web sites do not provide current rate information to
shipping customers without the customer first identifying itself
(perhaps in a secure manner) to the carrier. Further, even if
customers do spend the time searching across multiple sites to
obtain competitive rate information, they are still limited to
accepting the posted shipping lanes and/or rates.
[0008] As such, several attempts have been made in the prior art to
provide automated and electronic markets that facilitate
transportation transactions between many shippers and common
carriers and many shipping customers. One such attempt, as
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,716 issued to Hunt et al., employs
a closed environment electronic market to broker excess shipping
capacity from shippers/carriers. Hunt's system allows carriers to
provide listings of available shipping capacity which are then
matched (using parameters such as lanes, capacity and time frames)
with appropriate shipping requests entered by customers.
[0009] Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,981 to Barni et al.
discloses an Internet based system that allows multiple carriers
and multiple shipping customers to exchange shipping information
electronically. The system disclosed by Barni allows carriers to
post rates via an Internet web site and provides a mechanism
whereby customers can either place secure orders based upon on
those posted rates or can place secure anonymous bids in a online
auction environment.
[0010] Current many-to-many electronic market solutions, like those
proposed by Hunt and Barni, provide mechanisms for establishing a
centralized market by which many shippers/carriers can compete for
and transact business with many shipping customers in an
electronically facilitated manner. While such electronic markets
have various benefits and advantages, they are still not ideal.
Unfortunately, currently available centralized electronic market
solutions have not allowed carriers and shipping customers to
adequately exploit established business relationships in a manner
similar to what occurs in traditional real-life market
situations.
[0011] It would be highly desirable to provide an improved
electronic market wherein shipping customers can obtain cargo rates
from shippers and/or carriers as well as negotiate shipping routes
and pricing with those shippers/carriers in a manner that allows
relationships as business partners to come into play. Additionally,
it would be desirable that such a market may further allow
organizations within the shipping industry to interact more
directly with each other and customers through the Internet, an
Intranet, or through another form of electronic communication (such
as standards-based electronic data interchange, or "EDI"). In this
way, organizations may use the electronic market to facilitate the
automation of their individual transportation operations and may
collaborate with carriers electronically and in real-time to
improve customer service and to better optimize total
transportation needs in the marketplace.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] In light of the drawbacks inherent in the prior art, it is
an object of the present invention to provide an improved
electronic market wherein shipping customers can obtain cargo rates
from shippers and/or carriers as well as negotiate shipping routes
and pricing with those shippers/carriers in a manner that allows
relationships as business partners and associates to be adequately
exploited in a manner similar to what occurs in traditional
real-life market situations.
[0013] As such, it is an object of the present invention to provide
an electronic market and related methods that enables carriers and
shipping customers to conduct catalog-rate, discount-rate and
negotiated-rate shipping transactions.
[0014] Concurrently, it is an object of the present invention to
provide such an electronic market and method that operates across
distributed computer networks like the Internet whereby users of
the network can be located at various remote locations.
[0015] Further, it is an object of preferred embodiments of the
present invention to provide electronic markets and related method
whereby users can not only research and inquire about shipping
services but also tender, accept, and execute agreed upon shipping
services.
[0016] Additionally, it is an object of preferred embodiments of
the present invention to provide an electronic market and related
method that employs a multi-tier security regime for allowing
individual user access and privileges to be homogenized within a
collaborative, many buyer to many seller environment.
[0017] In response to the above-described and other needs and
objects, the present invention provides an electronic market and
related methods particularly useful for negotiating the exchange of
transportation services between shippers or carriers and shipping
customers. Embodiments of the present invention include an
electronic catalog-type listing of carrier services (lanes,
delivery times, etc.) and related rates such that buyers can
purchase services at periodically listed prices, and an electronic
auction exchange whereby buyers can bid on the available capacity
of carriers or whereby carriers can bid on shipping orders
requested by customers.
[0018] In preferred embodiments of the present invention, carriers
and shipping customers alike are permitted to take into account
preexisting business relationships by designating other carriers
and/or customers as preferred business partners. Thus, according to
such embodiments, carrier or shipper auctions can be classified as
either public or private. In a public capacity auction exchange,
any shipper or customer who is a participant of the electronic
market and wishes to purchase some of the capacity at auction from
a seller can enter bids on the available capacity. Similarly, in a
public shipment auction exchange, any carrier who is a participant
of the electronic market and wishes to perform the shipment desired
by a customer can enter bids on the shipping order.
[0019] In the private auction exchange in such preferred
embodiments, however, only users designated as preferred business
partners may bid on the auctioned capacity of the particular
shipper (or shipping order of a particular customer). Users
designated as preferred business partners can consist of, for
example, preferred partners designated by the selling party for all
transactions (catalog and auctions), only for catalog transactions,
or only for one or more particular auctions. In this manner, a
selling carrier can cater its services to particular users (e.g.,
repeat customers) and target market segments in an attempt to
garner better prices.
[0020] In additional preferred embodiments, capacity auctions can
be designated private-public whereby capacity can be preferentially
offered to users designated as preferred business partners in a
private auction (bids being taken from only those preferred
business partners) before potentially being made available in a
public auction. For example, the users designated as preferred
partners for a particular private auction could consist of other
carriers (typically sellers). In this manner, carriers can
designate each other as preferred members of a private auction
(such as to implement a business agreement) to help one another
remedy over-bookings or other circumstances that would cause a
failure to provide transportation services as-promised to customers
under contract. With such a private-public auction the seller can
set a minimum reserve price such that if the reserve price is not
exceeded by the bids of the designated users in the private
auction, the auction could automatically be opened up as a public
auction. Optionally, the switch from private to public auctioning
can be triggered by other means including an inactivity timer and a
manual signal from the user that initiated the auction.
[0021] When preferred embodiments of the present invention allow
the designation of certain users as preferred business customers,
alternative preferred embodiments allow auctioning entities to set
multiple levels of preferred partners. In this manner, a primary
set of preferred partners could be given initial access to
auctioned capacity or shipping orders. In the event that the
primary set does not provide a winning bid, the auction could be
opened up to a secondary set of preferred partners and so on. Of
course, according to this alternative preferred embodiment, any
number of levels of preferred partners can be employed in this
manner. Eventually, in the event that a winning bid is not received
from any of the sessions comprising the multiple level private
auction, the capacity or contract being auctioned privately could
optionally be made available to all users via a public auction.
[0022] Additionally, in other preferred embodiments of the present
invention, shippers can chose to provide special preferred customer
catalog listings that, for example, provide discounted rates to the
designated preferred catalog customers or, more preferably,
multiple levels of preferred catalog customers. Thus, in this
manner, loyal repeat customers could be quoted lower catalog rates
on one or more shipping services offered as compared to the catalog
rates quoted to less frequent repeat customers (who in turn could
optionally be quoted a lower rate than the average customer).
[0023] Auctions in embodiments of the present invention can be
performed under any auction bidding scheme known in the art. For
example, a given auction can be open such that all users eligible
to bid can view pending bids, or alternatively the bidding can be
kept secret. Additionally, as described above, descending price
buyer's auctions could be supported to allow sellers (i.e.,
shippers) to "bid" on purchase orders submitted by buyers. Finally,
various auctions rules can be set. For example, a rule could state
that contracts are awarded to the highest bidder at a price lower
than the highest bid (such as the second highest bid) so as to
prevent buyer's remorse. Other rules could allow bidders to set
maximum bids with automatic increments if prior bids are beaten, or
allow bids to have a time expiration feature.
[0024] According to a second embodiment of the present invention,
the electronic market for shipping and transportation services
according to the present invention additionally enables the
automatic tendering of shipment requests (after the closing of
auctions or after receipt of catalog orders) to carriers and
automates the monitoring of acceptances, also preferably
transmitted electronically, from those carriers.
[0025] Furthermore, preferred second embodiments of the present
invention incorporate electronic tracking and tracing functionality
that provides subscription based notifications. With the tracking
and tracing functionality, users of the electronic market can log
on to the system and obtain a detailed real-time shipping manifest
including the present status or location of any shipment previously
scheduled through the electronic market (as well as previous
locations and statuses, etc.). Any user can additionally subscribe
in such preferred embodiments of the electronic market and related
method to receive notifications, preferably in the form of
automatic emails, when a given shipment reaches a particular
location or obtains a particular status. In this manner, while a
company who is a participant in the electronic marketplace
according to the present invention may have many different
employees who are registered users, a user can receive an automatic
email notifications when shipments reach their destination while a
second and third registered users may subscribe to be notified if
the shipment is delayed.
[0026] Additionally, certain preferred embodiments of the present
invention comprise advanced tracking and tracing features that are
linked to the billing accounts payable/receivable process. In this
manner, a bill generation electronic data interchange ("EDI") event
could be automatically triggered to the proper user's account when
a shipment reaches its destination for payment on delivery
transactions.
[0027] Most preferred embodiments of the electronic market
according to present invention utilize various computing devices
communicating over a distributed network. In such preferred
embodiments, the distributed network is the Internet and users may
interact with the system using web browsers, various forms of EDI
or like technologies. For example, the system may include a web
server and appropriate software to support user access to the
electronic market via standard web browsers.
[0028] Preferably, a three-tier security regime is employed in
preferred electronic market networks according to embodiments of
the present invention to help manage roles and responsibilities.
This three-tier preferred security regime distinguishes between
companies, groups, and users. Groups are subset of companies, and
users are subsets of groups. Each group and user may only belong to
one company, but any user can be associated with more than one
group. In this manner, rights and permissions can be assigned on a
company, group, and user basis to assist in the security
maintenance process. In alternative embodiments, additional tiers
to the security regime can be provided such as a fourth tier above
the company level so as to allow companies to form associations
(i.e., partnerships).
[0029] Additional features and advantages of the invention are set
forth in the description that follows, and in part are apparent
from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention are
realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in
the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended
drawings.
[0030] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of
the invention as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide
further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of
the invention and together with the description serve to explain
the principles of the invention. In the drawings with like
reference numbers representing corresponding parts throughout:
[0032] FIG. 1a is a schematic diagram depicting the inter-relation
of the basic elements of an electronic market according to
embodiments of the present invention;
[0033] FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram depicting an electronic
exchange network according to one preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0034] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting the method utilized to
conduct public auctions according to embodiments of the present
invention;
[0035] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting the method utilized to
conduct private, multiple level private, and private-public
auctions according to preferred embodiments of the present
invention;
[0036] FIGS. 4a and 4b are flow diagrams depicting the methods
utilized to automatically execute auction orders and catalog
orders, respectively, that were generated within the electronic
exchange network according to a second embodiment of the present
invention; and
[0037] FIGS. 5a and 5b are schematic diagrams depicting a
three-tiered security regime employed in preferred embodiments of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0038] Reference is now made in detail to the preferred embodiment
of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
[0039] In the following description of the preferred embodiments,
auction bids according to the present invention are sometimes
referred to herein as buyer bids because they are bids by which
users of the electronic market attempt to buy the right to ship
goods on particular shipping lanes of interest at auctioned rates
in a seller's auction. Conversely, bids are sometimes referred to
herein as seller bids because they are bids by which user of the
electronic market attempt to sell the right to ship goods on
particular shipping lanes of interest at auctioned rates in a
buyer's auction. Reference to carriers and shippers (the terms
being utilized interchangeably herein unless context suggests
otherwise) herein in the detailed description should be interpreted
broadly to include not only those entities offering to provide
transportation services (broadly referred to as sellers
henceforth), such as common carriers, but also entities, such as
transportation brokers and the like, who represent carriers and
sellers. Additionally, as the terms are herein used, shipping
customers include anyone desirous of purchasing transportation
services (broadly referred to as "buyers" henceforth). Thus, as
will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, a carrier, shipper
or transportation broker (i.e., one who is typically a seller)
could at times operate as a buyer according to the present
invention (e.g., when a seller offers excess capacity to other
sellers in a wholesale-type auction).
[0040] Referring to FIG. 1a, there is schematically depicted the
inter-relation of the basic elements of an electronic market 100
according to embodiments of the present invention. Embodiments of
the electronic market 100 according to present invention utilize
various computing devices communicating over a distributed network
with an electronic exchange network 101. In such preferred
embodiments, the distributed network comprises the Internet 130.
Users (carriers 120 and shipping customers 110 in the figure
representing the computing systems of various sellers and buyers)
may interact manually with an electronic exchange network 101 using
client computing devices that permit client connections to the
electronic exchange network 101 via web browsers over the Internet
130. Additionally, as shown in the figure, the computing systems
carriers 120 and shipping customers 110 may communicate
automatically with the exchange network 101 using various forms of
EDI or like technologies.
[0041] Many carrier types are available in the transportation
industry, and the best shipping mode for a given order varies
dependent upon many factors including the kind of good, the
size/weight of the freight, and desired delivery timelines.
Typically, large and/or heavy materials with relatively remote
delivery deadlines can be sent either on commercial or private
fleet truck loads ("TL") while medium size or medium weight freight
movements can be accomplished using commercial or private truck
carriers in a less than truck load ("LTL") scheduling. Large to
medium weight or size freight movements can also be accomplished
over land via rail transportation or even air transportation. Large
to medium size and weight freight movements, particularly for
transcontinental shipments, can also be accomplished via sea barge.
Additionally, one or more carrier types are often employed in
combination to form an intermodal carrier route. A typical example
would be for a large-weight shipment to be scheduled to run via TL
carrier from the distribution center to a sea port and then
transfer from the sea port oversea via transatlantic barge to Great
Britain.
[0042] As will be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art,
the electronic market 100 according to the present invention can be
adapted to serve a variety of real-life shipping markets varying in
geographic and service scope. For example, one electronic market
could service all of the above-described types of carriers (TL
common carriers, sea barge companies, air freight brokers, etc.),
carriers catering to sellers within a particular industry (e.g.,
perishable goods), or similarly only deal in services offered by a
single type of carrier (e.g., TL carriers). Similarly, markets can
be established of varying geographic scope varying from wide
geographic areas (such as the European continent) to carriers that
specialize within limited geographic areas (such as the city of New
York).
[0043] Furthermore, it will be readily appreciated by one skilled
in the art that electronic markets 100 according to the present
invention can greatly facilitate international marketplaces that
comprise many buyers and sellers operating from remote locations in
many different countries. Buyers and sellers can each operate
individually in interfaces that operate according to the own
language, currency, time zone, date and number formatting and units
of measure and have those automatically converted into the
language, currencies, etc., for the benefit of other buyers and
sellers.
[0044] Referring now to FIG. 1b, there is schematically depicted an
electronic exchange network 101 according to one preferred
embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1b, the
exchange network 101 is comprised of a plurality of computerized
systems in electronic intercommunication, including: an auction
transaction system 102, a catalog transaction system 103, an
execution system 104 (utilized only in the second embodiment of the
invention as described below), an electronic data interchange
("EDI") system 105, a web platform system 106 and a database system
107. Each of the systems 102-107 that form the exchange network 101
are comprised of suitable servers (computing devices), storage
devices (including databases), memory devices and support hardware
as is known in the art of computer networks to achieve the
functions of each system 102-107 as hereinafter described.
[0045] Auction transaction system 102 provides the processing
power, support electronics and logic necessary to allow users to
set up auctions, to conduct auctions according to rules set up by
user, to accept bids, and to identify (either automatically or
manually) winning bids and related bidders. As will be readily
appreciated by one skilled in the art, private, multiple level
private, private-public, and public auctions (which are described
in detail below) administered by auction transaction system 102 in
embodiments of the present invention can be performed under any
auctioning bidding scheme known in the art. For example, a given
auction can be open such that all users eligible to bid can view
pending bids, or alternatively the bidding can be kept secret.
Furthermore, traditional seller's auctions are permitted to let
shippers auction off excess capacity as described above, while
descending price auctions are permitted to allow sellers (i.e.,
shippers) to "bid" on shipping contracts requested by shipping
customers in a buyer's auction. Finally, various auctioning rules
can be set. For example, a rule could state that contracts are
awarded to the highest bidder at a price lower than the highest bid
(such as the second highest bid) so as to prevent buyer's remorse.
Other rules could allow bidders to set maximum bids with automatic
increments if prior bids are beaten, or allow bids to have a time
expiration feature. Additionally, different rules could be selected
by an auctioning user (the user requesting that an auction be held)
for each level of a multiple level private auction or a
private-public auction such that, for example, current bids are
able to viewed by user that are able to bid in the private auctions
while, once the auction transitions to a public auction, bids
become secret. FIGS. 2 and 3, which will be described in detail
below, illustrate the operation of the auction system 102 with
respect to the handling of public and private auctions according to
the present invention.
[0046] Similarly, catalog transaction system 103 provides the
processing power, support electronics and logic necessary to allow
sellers to post an electronic catalog-type listing of carrier
services (lanes, equipment, delivery times, etc.) and related rates
such that buyers can utilize the electronic market 100 to review
and, in the second embodiment, purchase (and, optionally, monitor
and issue payments/invoices) services at listed prices in
combination with the execution system 104 as described below. These
rates can be modified at any time by each seller user (such as
periodically) and stored in the database system 107 for immediate
publication and use by the catalog system 103 the next time a buyer
user inquires into the price of services offered by that seller
user. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, seller
users can optionally provide multiple variable catalog rates for
the same shipping services such that discounted rates can be
provided to certain designated preferred catalog customers. Thus,
in this manner, loyal repeat customers could be quoted lower
catalog rates on one or more shipping services offered as compared
to the catalog rates quoted to less frequent repeat customers.
Similarly, in this manner sellers can provide special contract
rates to the exchange network for use with specified buyers in
recognition of pre-existing shipping agreements with those
specified buyers. As will be readily appreciated by one skilled in
the art, shipping carriers typically offer shipping services quoted
in variable rates (fees which increase depending upon factors such
as size/weight of the shipment, distance of shipment, etc.) for
particular lanes, plus extra coincidental or one-time lane-related
charges (such as, for example, port taxes, equipment type
surcharges, etc.). A more detailed summary of the common form of
such variable rates is provided below.
[0047] The database system 107 comprises one or more database
servers and relational databases adapted to store its data in any
manner known in the art, such as directly on a server hard drive,
or remotely on external storage media including tape drives, CD-RWs
and writable optical disks, and remote hard drives. This system is
utilized by the exchange network 101 to store all shipping
transaction data handled by the exchange network 101, such as
catalog type rate tables for various shipping services offered by
carrier users, auction bids, and pending electronic tender offers
sent to carriers (as described below). Additionally, the database
system 107 is adapted to store administrative information regarding
the identity of all registered users (such as security permissions,
etc) for use in authentication processes when users connect to the
execution network 101 and attempt to access data or transact
business with other users.
[0048] The web platform system 106, comprising one or more web
servers, communicates directly with each buyer and seller user's
computer (running a web browser application) via the Internet and
retrieves and serves, in a suitable hardware independent page
description language (such as HTML, XML, and java), requested data
from the database system 107. This data can include, among others
as is apparent from the balance of the accompanying description,
live status information regarding in-progress auctions from the
auction transaction system 102, quoted rates provided via the
catalog transaction system, and live status information from the
execution system 104 regarding shipping orders in the process of
being executed. The web platform system 106 enables authenticated
buyer users and seller users to use a standard web browser to
request and view data relating to pending, in-progress, or
completed catalog and auction transactions. Requested data is
retrieved from the database system 107 and converted by the web
platform system 106 with known front-ending methods into internet
protocol ("IP") formatted data, for example, via CGI scripts,
Microsoft ASP, Java scripts or other like methods, and made
available on the world wide web as an interactive dynamic web site
(as described in detail below) for viewing and interaction with a
web browser.
[0049] The interactive dynamic web site provided by the exchange
network 101 is comprised of multiple web pages that enable the
various users for each buyer and seller to have a remotely
accessible intuitive interface with the exchange network 101. The
web site includes individual or multiple secure web pages such as:
a user login page for accessing the web site with a secure password
and username pair, auction creation web pages for defining
parameters of new auctions, auction participation web pages,
catalog rate viewing pages, catalog rate maintenance pages, catalog
rate inquiry pages, catalog rate order pages, seller information
pages, and user preference and administration pages and the like.
In this manner, users for each buyer and seller can conduct
business in the electronic market 100 as described herein simply by
having a computer running a web browser program and an Internet
connection.
[0050] Retrieval of the information and data stored in the database
system 107 via the web platform system 106 at the request of any
user is controlled by standard authentication and authorization
protocols. Sellers and buyers sign up to become members of the
electronic market 100 and are each then able to establish one or
more users accounts that each grant access to certain features of
the dynamic web site while restricting others. Each user receives a
username and password via which he or she can access desired
information and, if given the proper permissions are associated
with that user's account, conduct business via the electronic
exchange network 101. Once a user has received an account, he or
she is able to login into various secure web pages and be presented
with dynamically generated web pages representative of the level of
access that the user's particular account possesses (according to a
security regime). In this manner, buyers and sellers can assign
roles to each user account in parallel to that user's position and
responsibilities with respect to the buyer/seller in the real world
marketplace. Preferred security regimes and related user roles are
discussed in more detail below with respect to FIGS. 5a and 5b.
[0051] As shown in FIG. 1b, the exchange network 101 according to
the illustrated preferred embodiment of the present invention
additionally contains an EDI system 105. Like the web platform
system 106, the EDI system 105 is used by users representing both
buyers and sellers to exchange data electronically between the
exchange network 101 and the users' (carriers 120 or shipping
customers 110) own computing devices (such as the private computer
network of the buyer/seller). While the web interface provided by
system 106 is designed to facilitate user-initiated electronic
communication with the exchange network 101, the EDI interface
provided by the EDI system 105 is designed to facilitate direct
integration with the private electronic networks of each carrier,
shipper or customer, etc., through standards-based electronic data
interchange ("EDI"). The EDI system 105 is adapted to receive
information electronically from carriers, preferably via LAN, WAN
or the Internet, pertaining to the types of transportation services
offered by the carrier as well as the rates that they charge for
these services. This information includes travel lanes, equipment
types, and rates for those lanes and equipment types and is stored
in the database system 107 for later use in calculating quoted
transportation costs for any services requested by a buyer.
Similarly, EDI can be used to send tender offers and purchase
orders to and receive acceptances from carriers after the closing
of auctions or the submission of catalog orders. Additionally,
tracking and tracing shipment status messages regarding the status
of a shipment that was scheduled by a buyer and seller via the
electronic market 100. Finally, the EDI system 105 can be used by
buyers or sellers to download information into local planning and
optimization systems. For example, a buyer could establish EDI
protocols whereby carrier rate tables, track/trace, and billing
information are automatically downloaded periodically into a local
transportation planning system (such as, by way of example, that
disclosed by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/882,257, filed
Jun. 18, 2001, the specification of which is herein incorporated by
reference in its entirety) resident on its private computer
network. This downloaded information can then be used by the buyer
to optimize its transportation efforts and expenditures.
[0052] The auctioning processes performed by the electronic
exchange network 101, and in particular the auction transaction
system 102 in preferred embodiments, will now be discussed in
detail. FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting the method 200 utilized
to conduct public auctions according to embodiments of the present
invention. Once a buyer or seller that is a member of the
electronic market 100 decides that it wants to conduct a public
auction (accepting bids from any member of the electronic market),
a user having proper authority first logs onto the exchange network
101 and defines 210 auction parameters using the dynamic web page
interface. For standard seller's auctions, the auction parameters
describe the transportation service being auctioned (including, for
example, times for pickup and delivery, lanes, capacity in terms of
either weight or cubic volume, equipment type, etc.) as well
administrative details for the auction. The administrative details
define when the auction takes place (beginning and end time), the
type of bidding scheme (blind or open, bid format, whether the
winner will be determined automatically by rule or manually by the
auctioning seller upon review of bids, etc.) and optionally whether
there is a minimum bid increment (in dollars per mile or in total
dollars), a reserve price, or a strike price wherein the auctioned
service is awarded to the first bidder that meets or exceeds the
strike price. The electronic exchange network then publishes 220 a
notice describing the auction and its time of occurrence to all
users having permission to bid on seller's auctions. This
publication step could be performed through various mechanisms,
including email messages, facsimiles, broadcast notices published
on a notices page in the dynamic web site supported by the web
platform system, etc.
[0053] At the start time defined by the auctioning seller at step
210 the auction transaction system 102 commences the public auction
and begins to receive and monitor 230 incoming bids from interested
buyers. When a minimum bid price has been specified, the auction
transaction system will reject all bids that fall below the minimum
and can optionally instruct the erroneously bidding buyer
accordingly. Similar actions can be initiated with respect to
minimum increment violations. Specifically with respect to capacity
auctions held by sellers, the auction transaction system further
rejects bids that are over the auctioned capacity (either in terms
of weight or cubic volume. Additionally, when the auction has open
bidding the auction transaction system will allow the web platform
system to publish the history of received bids (such as the time of
each bid and that bid's price) as they are received. Thus, bidding
buyers can decide to review the status of their bids and decide if
they want to increase (or rescind, if allowed by the auction rules)
their pending bid.
[0054] A bid in a seller's auction comprises at least two main
components: an identifier of the bidding party (buyer/seller
designation and preferably also the particular user account of the
buyer/seller that submitted the order) and a bid price. If it is
desired for the auction transaction system 102 to screen
over-capacity bids, then buyer bids for a particular auction would
also be required to describe the goods being shipped in either
total weight, cubic volume, or both. In preferred embodiments,
however, a bid can include various advanced items. Specifically,
bids can be configured by a bidding user to automatically increase
from the submitted bid amount (a base bid) until their bid is
either the highest pending bid or until a maximum bid amount is
reached. The bidding user would then include with their bid
information regarding a maximum bid and a pre-selected bid
increment amount that will be automatically triggered whenever the
bid is not the highest bid. Understandably, however, this feature
could be disallowed by the auction rules such as, for example,
where secret bidding is employed. Additionally, in auctions wherein
the winner is chosen manually, bidding users could optionally
associate an expiration time with their bid such that the bid is
automatically retracted if no winning bid is identified before the
expiration time is reached.
[0055] At some point after the receipt of bids has been allowed at
step 230, the auction transaction system 102 closes bidding 240 and
decides if a winning bid has been received. According to the
various embodiments of the present invention, the closing of the
auction as well as the identification of a winning bid can
transpire in many ways depending upon the auction parameters
defined by the auctioning seller in step 210. For example, for a
given auction, the winning bid may not be determined by a preset
rule but may alternatively be selected by the auctioning user. In
such a case, bids could be accepted for a predetermined time period
and then submitted to the auctioning user after expiration of that
time period for review and selection of a winner manually.
Similarly, the auctioning user could manually select a winning bid
from active bids while an auction is ongoing and thus also manually
trigger the termination of the auction. For example, a user that
initiates a seller's auction could manually designate two winning
bids and join those two together to fill its auctioned capacity.
Alternatively, in other types of auctions both the termination of
the auction and the selection of a winning bid could be
accomplished automatically as is the case where a strike price is
set in the auction parameters in step 210 and then met by a valid
bid received in step 230. Of course, as shown in FIG. 2, there can
be situations wherein the auction is terminated at step 240 but no
winning bid is received (such as, for example, because the auction
timed out without a specified minimum bid being met), thus
signaling the end of the auction 295.
[0056] In the event that a winning bid has been identified at step
240, the auction transaction system 102 notifies 250 the owner of
the winning bid that its bid has won the auction. Like notices of
an auction, this notification can comprise email messages,
facsimiles, broadcast notices and equivalent notification means.
The sending of the notification signals the end of the auction
295.
[0057] The manner in which public buyer's auctions are conducted is
similar in most respects to the manner described above with respect
to public seller's auctions. One notable exception is that in
buyer's auctions bid prices will normally decrease as opposed to
increase. Further, the information describing the auctioned service
supplied by the auctioning buyer necessarily takes on a different
format. For example, in the service description buyers would need
to provide information regarding the goods to be shipped including
weight and/size as well as other relevant information such as
where, for example, those goods require specific equipment types
such as temperature controlled containers. Further, a buyer would
most likely describe the services desired by stating origin and
destination locations (as opposed to stating a lane/geographic
area).
[0058] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting the method 300 whereby
private, multiple level private, and private-public auctions
(collectively hereinafter referred to as "non-public auctions") are
performed by the auction transaction system 102 according to
preferred embodiments of the present invention. As seen by
comparing FIGS. 2 and 3, method 300 for non-public auctions
operates very much like a recurring nested version of method 200
for public auctions. In non-public auctions, however, the auction
initiating user must provide a set of information to define what
type of non-public auction the auction transaction system 102
should hold. As shown in FIG. 3, a non-public auction requires the
auction initiating user to provide information to establish 305 the
format of the non-public auction. This format information tells the
auction transaction system 102 whether the non-public auction will
potentially become public (could be triggered automatically by a
rule established at step 305, or alternatively initiated manually
by the auctioning user at steps 360 and 380 as described below),
whether the non-public auction is a multiple level private auction,
how many levels of preferred partners there are if it is a multiple
level private auction, and the identity of preferred partners for
each level of the private auctions. For each private auction level
(for any non-public auction there will be at least one level of
private auction) only users designated as preferred business
partners by the user (such as initially at step 305, or later, as
described below, at steps 360 and 380) may bid on the auctioned
capacity of the particular shipper (in a seller's auction) or
requested shipping order of a particular customer (in a buyer's
auction). Users designated as preferred business partners can
consist of, for example, default buyers/sellers designated by the
auctioning party for all transactions (both catalog and auctions),
just auction transactions, or only for that particular auction (at
step 305). In this manner, a selling carrier, for example, can
cater its services to particular users (e.g., repeat customers) and
target market segments in an attempt to garner better prices.
Similarly, in a buyer's auction a shipping customer can designate
carriers who it knows has providing superior service in the past a
preferred partners for its auctions.
[0059] Referring again to FIG. 3, in non-public auctions the
auction initiating user next defines 310 auction parameters
including a description of the transportation service being
auctioned (times, origin and destination, capacity, equipment type,
etc.) and administrative details for the auction (auction/bid type,
minimum bids, start/end times, etc.). Optionally, at step 310
different auction parameters could be set for each established
level of the non-public auction if multiple levels were defined
prior to the auction at step 305. As will be better appreciated
after reading the balance of the description with respect to FIG.
3, if multiple non-public auction levels and separate auction
parameters are established in steps 305 and 310, additional input
by the auction initiating used is not required during the auction.
Optionally, of course, the auction initiating user could manually
establish additional levels of private auction with customized
auction parameters later at step 360, or could open up the auction
to all members of the electronic market as a public auction with
customized auction parameters later at step 380.
[0060] Like with method 200 employed for private auctions, method
300 employed for non-public auctions next publishes 320 a notice of
at least the first level of private auction to the designated
preferred partners who are eligible to bid in that private auction
level. This notice describes the private auction level and its time
of occurrence to all users of designated preferred partners that
having permission to bid on auctions. As described above, this
publication step could be performed through various mechanisms,
including email messages, facsimiles, broadcast notices published
on a notices page in the dynamic web site supported by the web
platform system, etc.
[0061] At the start time defined by the auctioning user at step 310
the auction transaction system 102 commences the private auction
first level and begins to receive and monitor 330 incoming bids
from interested users that were designated as preferred partners.
As with public auctions, the auction transaction system 102
performs various functions while receiving and monitoring bids as
required by the auction preferences and rules set by the auction
initiating user. For example, in the event that a user not
designated as a preferred partner by some way learns of the
non-public auction and attempts to enter a bid at step 330, this
bid will be rejected. Similarly, bids in the various levels of a
private auction comprise at least a bid price and an identifier of
the bidding buyer or seller plus other necessary information as
well optionally contain advanced items such as automatic bid
incrementing, expiration and the like.
[0062] At some point after the receipt of bids has begun at step
330, the auction transaction system 102 closes bidding 340 for the
first private auction level and decides if a winning bid has been
received. As with step 240 of the method 200 for conducting private
auctions, in the various embodiments of the present invention the
closing of the initial private auction level as well as the
identification of a winning bid can transpire in many ways
depending upon the auction parameters defined by the auctioning
seller in step 310. These decisions can be implemented
automatically by the auction transaction system according to preset
rule, or be initiated/selected manually by the auctioning user.
[0063] In the event that a winning bid has been identified at step
340, the auction transaction system 102 notifies 350 the owner of
the winning bid that its bid has won the auction, and the sending
of this notification marks 395 the end of the non-public auction.
This notification can comprise email messages, facsimiles,
broadcast notices and equivalent notification means.
[0064] If no winning bid is identified (either manually or
automatically) at step 340, the auction transaction system
determines 360 whether additional private auctions levels remain,
i.e., whether the current non-public auction should continue as a
multiple level private auction. As discussed above, in advance of
step 360 when establishing the non-public auction format and
defining the auction parameters (including the designation of
preferred trading partners) at steps 310 and 320, the auctioning
user could have designated more than one set of preferred partners
with each such set naming the parties who can participate in each
level of the requested multiple level private auction. For example,
set 1 naming buyers A, B, C and D would be eligible for the initial
private auction level, set 2 naming buyers E, F, G, H and I would
be eligible for the second private auction level (optionally either
in addition to set 1 or at the exclusion of set 1), and so on.
[0065] If several ordered sets of preferred partners are indeed
named, method 300 recognizes that an additional private level of
auction is necessary and proceeds to return 370 back to step 320
and then repeat steps 330, 340 and 360 substantially as described
above. In this manner, notice is published 320 to all new preferred
partners eligible to enter bids, bids are received and monitored
330, and bidding is closed and a determination 340 is made as to
whether a winning bid was received. If a winning bid is received,
the auction transaction system 102 notifies 350 the bid owner and
the auction ends 395 (without opening the auction to any other
lower sets of preferred partners or having a public auction). This
process thus repeats steps 320-370 to provide a private level
auction for each ordered set of preferred partners (in the order
specified by the auctioning user) until either a winning bid is
identified at step 340 or until all levels of the private auction
have been exhausted.
[0066] As with the determinations at step 340 as to when to stop
receiving bids and whether a winning bid has been received, the
determination at step 360 as to whether additional private auction
levels are necessary can be handled both automatically by the
auction transaction system 102 according to the auction format and
auction parameters set up by the auction initiating user, or can be
made manually by the auction initiating user.
[0067] If no additional levels of private auction are identified,
the auction transaction system 102 determines 380 whether the
auctioned transportation services should be offered in a public
auction. As made clear by FIG. 3, therefore, if no winning bid has
been identified after the bidding is closed at step 340, a private
auction containing only one private auction level and not
authorized to be opened up to all buyers and/or sellers as a public
auction will be considered to have ended (step 395). Similarly, if
no winning bid has been identified at step 340 in the last level of
a multiple level private auction and it is then determined at step
380 that the auctioned transportation services will not be made
available in a public auction then the auction will have ended
(step 395).
[0068] Finally, at step 380 if it is determined that the private
auction or multiple level private auction should be opened to the
public, the auction transaction system 102 performs 390 a public
auction according to method 200 as specified by FIG. 2.
Specifically, the auction transaction system 102 publishes notice
of the public auction to all buyers and/or sellers (step 220),
receives and monitors bids for a certain period of time (step 230),
ends bidding and determines whether a winning bid was received
(step 240), and if so, notifies the owner of the winning bid (step
250) before terminating the public part of the auction (step
295).
[0069] Again, similar to the determinations at steps 340 and 360 as
to when to stop receiving bids, whether a winning bid has been
received, and whether additional private auction levels are
necessary, the determination 380 as to whether a public auction
should be held can be made both automatically by the auction
transaction system 102 (according to preset rules) or made manually
by the auction initiating user. Finally, it should be readily
understood by one skilled in the art that the manner in which
non-public buyer's auctions are conducted is similar in all
substantial respects to the manner in which non-public seller's
auctions are conducted.
[0070] The catalog transaction system 103 in the exchange network
101 is adapted to allow sellers to post an electronic catalog-type
listing of carrier services (lanes, equipment, delivery times,
etc.) and related rates and then allow buyers to review and
potentially submit purchase orders for those services at those
listed catalog rates. These catalog rates can be modified at any
time by each seller user (such as periodically) and stored in the
database system 107 for immediate publication and use by the
catalog system 103 the next time a buyer user inquires into the
price of services offered by that seller user.
[0071] According to embodiments of the present invention, a buyer
user can review posted catalog rates, and then possibly enter a
purchase order based upon those rates, according to one of three
alternative mechanisms. First, a buyer can directly inquire as to
the catalog rates of a particular seller in the electronic market
100. This can be accomplished, for example, by navigating within
the electronic market's dynamic web site directly to a web page or
pages having a listing of all services and quoted rates currently
offered by that seller. The seller can then manually review the
services and associated catalog rates and, if so desired, select an
appropriate service and rate for the submission of a purchase order
to the seller (performed by the execution system 104 according to
the second embodiment of the present invention as described below).
Second, a buyer can search the type of and rates for transportation
services offered by one or more particular sellers in the
electronic market 100. For example, the buyer could identify the
seller in which it is interested (such as by navigating within the
electronic market's dynamic web site directly to a web page or
pages having a listing of all services and quoted rates currently
offered by that seller or simply by identifying the seller by name)
and then specify search parameters (such as via a web-based form
provided by the interactive web site) to initiate a service and
rate inquiry search by the catalog transaction system 103. If the
buyer is potentially interested in reviewing the rates of more that
one carrier, the interactive web site enables interaction with
catalog transaction system 103 to perform a service and rate
inquiry search among multiple sellers (including all sellers within
the electronic market 100) for a specific type of services and
compare relative rates for suitable alternative service offerings.
Third, a carrier could ask the catalog transaction system 103 to
search and automatically assign the "best" service and rate for a
shipment performed a particular carrier for its desired service and
then automatically submit a purchase order for the service at that
rate via the execution system 104 (as described below with respect
to FIG. 4b). In this manner, carriers can be pre-assigned by the
buyer (such as when the buyer is contractually obligated to use a
particular carrier or when, for example, the buyer knows that the
particular carrier offers the best service) and the catalog
transaction system 103 and execution system 104 can work in tandem
to automate the submission of a purchase order as described
below.
[0072] Service and rate inquiry requests (whether for a single
seller or multiple sellers) received by the catalog transaction
system 103 (via either the EDI system 105 or web platform system
106 depending upon how the buyer is accessing the exchange network
101) must have at least one origin/destination pair. Additionally,
each inquiry includes all the information that the logic employed
by the catalog transaction system 103 needs to identify the
appropriate rate. Generally, this information can be conceptualized
as being divided into three parts which include header information,
shipping units information, and routing information. The header
information contains administrative data that, for example,
identifies when and from where (which customer user) the order was
received. The shipping units information identifies the type of
product to be transported, the physical dimensions of the product
(including length, width, and height), number of units and weight
of each unit. The routing information provides detailed origin and
destination locations as well as time windows for pickup and
delivery.
[0073] The catalog transaction system 103 then, using carrier rate
tables stored in the database system 107, calculates a quoted cost
for the service and rate inquiry and quotes that cost to the
appropriate buyer for review and ultimately either acceptance or
rejection. In situations where more than one offered service meets
the buyer's inquiry parameters (often the case where multiple
sellers are listed in a single inquiry), the catalog transaction
system 103 provides a report to the inquiring buyer comparing the
possible services. If the quoted cost for one of the returned
services is accepted by the buyer, according to the second
embodiment of the present invention, automatic execution that order
is performed by the execution system 104 substantially according to
method 400' illustrated by FIG. 4b (described below).
[0074] Further, the catalog transaction system can be configured
(either by default exchange network rules or by the parameters of a
buyer's services inquiry) to consider quoting multiple leg
shipments in response to the inquiring buyer. Such multiple leg
shipments would combine three individual service routes (and the
associated rate for those routes) which comprise a first truckload
shipment route from the pick-up location to a railroad depot (or
sea port/airport), transport via rail (or sea/air) to a second
railroad depot (or sea port/airport), and then a second truckload
shipment to the destination. Specific systems and methods for
constructing potential three-leg shipments are fully disclosed by
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/882,257, filed Jun. 18, 2001,
the specification of which having previously been incorporated by
reference in its entirety above.
[0075] In preferred embodiments of the present invention, sellers
can optionally provide multiple variable catalog rates for the same
shipping services such that discounted rates can be provided to
certain designated preferred catalog customers. In this manner,
sellers can offer reduced rates to specific buyers based upon
pre-existing business relationships. Inquiries from such preferred
catalog customers are recognized (such as by reviewing the header
information of the service and rate inquiry) and quotes are
provided accordingly. Similarly, a user that navigates within the
electronic market's dynamic web site directly to a web page or
pages having a listing of all services and quoted rates currently
offered by a seller would, if that seller lists the user's
organization as a preferred catalog customer, automatically be
recognized and provided with appropriately discounted rates. As
will be readily appreciated by one skilled in the art, preferably,
multiple levels of preferred catalog customers can be employed such
that loyal repeat customers could be quoted lower catalog rates on
one or more shipping services offered as compared to the catalog
rates quoted to less frequent repeat customers (who in turn could
optionally be quoted a lower rate than the average customer).
[0076] Although not shown in FIGS. 1a or 1b, the exchange network
101 could also be provided with a means for calculating distances
between the origin and destination of a shipping order. It is
commonplace in the shipping and transportation industry that the
rates quoted by carriers and other sellers often depend upon the
distance for which the order has to be transported. To this end,
the catalog transaction system 103 will need a manner for
determining the distance between an origination and destination
point itemized within each order. Therefore, the exchange network
101 could utilize an interface for electronic communication with a
distance calculating program, such as known, commercially available
programs like MileMaker or PC*Miler.
[0077] In embodiments of the invention, the rates for each seller's
shipping services are specified in a plurality of tables which are
stored in the database system 107 for retrieval and use by the
catalog transaction system 103 and, in the second embodiment of the
invention as disclosed below, by the execution system 104 for use
calculating incurred fees (as described below). Such rate tables
are stored therein for each carrier type, including truckload
("TL"), less than truckload ("LTL"), railroad, air, and sea
transporters.
[0078] By way of illustration, the rate tables for most carrier
types typically depend upon one of two variables (or sometimes
both), distance from origin to destination and weight of the
freight. Of course, it should be readily appreciated by one skilled
in the art that carriers of the same type may employ various
differing rate determination methods.
[0079] TL shippers (as well as LTL shippers) typically specify
individual shipping rates for each equipment class (open truck,
refrigerated container, etc.) offered. With respect to rates based
upon distance traveled, the TL shippers typically quote in terms of
five types of rating methods for TL shipments. They are flat rate,
metric rate, fixed plus variable rate, mileage rate, and radial
rate. A radial rate is a freight rating and routing method by which
freight movement cost is determined using the sum of straight-line
distances between each end point on a freight movement's various
legs as the distance variable. The rate is then specified in each
table in terms of a function based upon a dollars per mile factor,
a minimum rate, and/or a flat rate.
[0080] LTL rates are specified by carriers for each class in terms
of a minimum rate and weight breaks. Package rates are specified
for a carrier's weight breaks and charges for transportation within
a particular zone. (The zones being defined by a particular
carrier). Rail rates, air rates and package rates can be defined as
a combination of any of the above. Intermodal freight movements are
rated using a particular carrier type rating tables for each leg of
the trip.
[0081] With respect to the weight variable used in each of the rate
tables, the catalog transaction system 103 supports the use of
standard weights (i.e., pounds or kilograms) or dimensional
weights. In the transportation industry, a dimensional weight is a
calculation of the shipment's weight based upon its volume metric
standard in addition to its actual weight. Essentially, it acts as
a equalizer to ensure that large and bulky, yet lightweight,
objects that consume a large portion of a carrier's capacity costs
comparatively as much as a more dense yet smaller object.
[0082] Carriers typically require that their rate be determined
using the larger of the two weights, that is the dimensional weight
or the actual weight of the shipment, to determine the price that
they charge. Dimensional weight rating is particularly applicable
to industries, such as the high tech industry, wherein many boxes
are shipped that each have a fairly low weight. For a
multiple-package shipment, a dimensional weight is simply
determined by adding the individual dimensional weights for each
package together.
[0083] Additionally, both TL and LTL carriers often provide
discounts to hauls that serve as a roundtrip. This helps to limit
empty legs by carriers and the carriers therefore often pass their
savings on to customers to promote roundtrip bookings.
Additionally, it is common for rate tables of transportation
services to take into account extra coincidental or one-time
lane-related charges (such as, for example, port taxes, equipment
type surcharges, in-transit handling fees, fuel surcharges, and
import/export charges). For each type of carrier and/or lane and/or
location, these extra charges are similarly defined within the
database system 107. After the appropriate rating is calculated for
the shipment based upon the carrier, the carrier type, and any
appropriate modifications required by roundtrip rating, radial
rating, dimensional weighting, etc., the extra charges that apply
are added on to the end to produce a final quoted cost.
[0084] Rail carriers are very similar to TL type carriers in that
they often operate seven days a week and their quoted rates (as
stored in the database system 107) are typically specified in the
same manners as they are with respect to TL (a rate based solely on
distance traveled for an entire trailer and/or rail car). As will
be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the use
of rail carriers necessarily requires posted rail schedules
determine the timing of a particular freight movement rather than
distance and driving speeds. Additionally, the use of rail also
precludes multiple stops or detours. Logically, intermodal carriers
combining rail with TL carriers would necessarily incorporate all
the limitations associated with TL and rail carriers. Sea carriers
are similar to rail carriers in the respects mentioned above.
[0085] With respect to TL and LTL rate tables as described above,
the catalog transaction system 103 must be able to determine a
calculated distance that the shipment will travel from the origin
to its destination in order to provide an accurate rate quote. As
will be readily appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art,
the catalog transaction system 103 can be readily adapted to handle
service and rate inquiry requests that specify shipment origins and
destinations in a variety of forms including latitudes and
longitudes, zip codes, or street addresses by performing necessary
conversions with a readily available commercial distance
calculation software such as the aforementioned PC*Miler and
MileMaker programs.
[0086] When performing a service and rate inquiry at the request of
a buyer, the catalog transaction system 103 performs an automated
query that determines which carriers are possible to service the
particular order which essentially takes the resources specified by
the seller (or sellers) as being available searches the services
offered by carriers for matches within relevant lanes. By way of
explanation, a large freight order that needed to be moved via
truck load from New York to Los Angeles could not use a TL carrier
that only operated in the southeast United States. In performing
this query, the catalog transaction system 103, in additional to
geographic service area compatibility, considers: time windows
(such as by hour of the day across the week) such that the
carrier's quotes are active for the pickup and delivery times
specified in the inquiry request and whether the carrier has
compatible equipment to service a particular order or location
(such as where the carrier needs a refrigerated car to transport
perishable food goods).
[0087] According to a second embodiment of the present invention,
the electronic market and related methods not only allows buyers
and sellers to conduct auctions and to publish, search and review
catalog shipping rates in a distributed network environment, but
also enables the automatic tendering of shipment requests (after
the closing of auctions or after quoting of catalog rates) to
carriers and automates the monitoring of acceptances, also
preferably transmitted electronically, from those carriers. FIG. 4a
depicts the method 400 whereby the execution system 104 enables the
automatic execution of an auction order (i.e., the winning bid)
that was submitted into an electronic exchange network 101
according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
(Optional steps of method 400 being indicated in broken lines.)
Similarly, FIG. 4b depicts the method 400' whereby the execution
system 104 enables the automatic execution of an catalog order
(i.e., the winning bid) that was submitted into an electronic
exchange network 101 according to the second embodiment of the
present invention. (Optional steps of method 400' being indicated
in broken lines.)
[0088] As seen in FIGS. 1a and 1b, the execution system 104 is
electronically connected to carriers 120 either directly (such as
through the dedicated communication lines of a LAN/VAN) or
indirectly via the Internet 105. The execution system 104 is
adapted to transmit tender offers (formal requests for shipping
services) to the carrier(s) for any potential shipment represented
by any completed seller's auction and to send purchase orders for
any catalog order submitted by a buyer. Preferably, each carrier
120 that is a member of the electronic market 100 is electronically
connected to the electronic exchange network in a manner that will
allow tender offers (as a result of auctions) and purchase orders
(as a result of catalog inquiries) to be sent automatically in
electronic fashion through EDI, email or the Web immediately after
the catalog order or seller's auction is finalized. Alternatively,
of course, means such as facsimile or telephone can be employed to
transmit such tender offers. However, it is preferable that the
tender and purchase order processes are electronically
automated.
[0089] Once received, carriers can review tender offers and
electronically provide an acceptance or decline of the tender offer
to the execution system 104, again preferably electronically via
EDI or the Web. As with tender offers and purchase orders, the
acceptance/decline can also alternatively be transmitted in more
traditional means. If the tender offer or purchase offer is
confirmed by the seller, than the transaction has been successfully
executed according to the second embodiment of the present
invention.
[0090] Referring specifically now to FIG. 4a, method 400 performed
by the execution system 104 enables the automatic execution of an
auction order by first, after the closing of a successful (i.e.,
one in which a winning bid is identified) public or non-public
auction, identifying 410 the winning bid and bidder. The terms of
the winning bid, in addition to the identity of the winning bidder,
is utilized create and send 420 a tender offer to the seller (or
buyer if the winning bid results from a buyer's auction). This
tender offer identifies the subject transportation service for the
auction (such as with a description of the transportation service
or with an auction identifier and provides the identity of the
bidder and terms of the bid. As described above, preferably this
tender offer comprises an automated electronic communication in the
form of an EDI or email message. The execution system 104 then
waits 430 for confirmation (such as in the form of an acceptance or
decline communication) that the seller has received the tender
offer. If a determination 440 is made that the confirmation message
has been received, the execution system 104 determines 450 whether
the message communicated an acceptance or decline on the part of
the seller. If the confirmation message is an acceptance, the
execution system 104 notifies 460 the winning bidder (such as with
an email message) that the carrier has accepted the tender offer,
preferably in the form of a confirmation number and/or shipping
order number issued by the seller and provided within the tender
acceptance communication.
[0091] In the event that a confirmation communication is received
but it is determined at step 460 that the seller has declined the
offer, the execution system 104 notifies 470 the winning bidder
(such as with an email message) of the failure of the seller to
confirm acceptance of the tender offer resulting from the auction.
As shown in FIG. 4a, in the event that a long time elapses before
the seller sends a confirmation message in response to the tender
(or never responds at all, such as, for example, if there was an
electronic communication interruption), the execution system 103
can determine 445 if the chance for the seller to respond has timed
out, and, if so, determine 415 if a second tender offer should be
sent (i.e., return to step 420 and repeat the confirmation
process).
[0092] Preferably the entire process beginning at step 410 and
ending at either steps 460 or 470 is completely automated by the
exchange network 101 and is initiated automatically immediately
after the conclusion of a successful auction.
[0093] The method 400' depicted by FIG. 4b whereby the execution
system 104 enables the automatic execution of a catalog purchase
order is similar in most respects to method 400 except that it
requires manual interaction by a buyer. First, after researching
services from sellers as described above with respect to FIG. 3,
the buyer selects 410' the desired service (and associated rate)
that it wants. The buyer then submits 420' a purchase order to the
quoting seller for the desired service. This purchase order
identifies the desired service (by the seller's catalog listing)
and provides sufficient information to identify the services needed
(this information being equivalent in content to the type provided
in a service and rate inquiry). Preferably, purchase orders are
electronically transmitted to the appropriate seller in the form of
an automated electronic communication (such as an EDI or email
message). The execution system 104 then waits 430' for confirmation
(such as in the form of an acceptance or decline) that the seller
has received and reviewed the purchase order. If a determination
440' is made that the confirmation message has been received (such
determination being made due to, for example, the reception of a
response communication), the execution system 104 determines 450'
whether the message communicated an acceptance or decline on the
part of the seller. If the confirmation message is an acceptance,
the execution system 104 notifies 460' the buyer (such as with an
email message) that the carrier has confirmed and accepted the
tender offer, and preferably provides the buyer with a confirmation
number and/or shipping order number issued by the seller.
[0094] If a confirmation communication is received but it is
determined at step 460' that the seller has declined the offer, the
execution system 104 notifies 470' the winning bidder (such as with
an email message) of the failure of the seller to confirm
acceptance of the purchase order submitted at step 420'.
Preferably, a failure notification at step 470' preferably
communicates to the buyer a reason for the purchase order failure
(not response from the carrier, carrier declined because requested
pick-up time was not available or it had insufficient capacity
available, etc.). This failure reason information then can be used
at step 415' by the buyer in deciding whether or not to try and
submit an alternative purchase order. As shown in FIG. 4b, method
400' also employs a time out feature at step 445', to determine if
the buyer should be notified 470' of the carriers failure to
confirm receipt of the purchase order.
[0095] Furthermore, it is preferred that in the second embodiment
of the present invention the execution system 104 additionally
provides electronic tracking and tracing functionality (this
optional step being shown to occur after steps 460 and 460' in
broken lines in FIGS. 4a and 4b) that provides subscription based
notifications to users for buyers who have executed shipping
transactions as described above. With this subscription based
tracking and tracing functionality of this preferred embodiment,
users of the electronic market (assuming they have been granted the
proper permissions by the buyer in the transaction) can log on to
the interactive web site and obtain a detailed real-time shipping
manifest including the present status or location of any shipment
previously scheduled through the electronic market as well as
previous locations and statuses. Any authorized user can
additionally subscribe in such preferred embodiments of the
electronic market and related method to receive notifications,
preferably in the form of automatically generated emails, when a
given shipment that is the subject of a shipping transaction
reaches a particular location or obtains a particular status. For
example, a company who is a participant in the electronic
marketplace according to the present invention may have many
employees who are registered users. A first registered user who is
in sales may subscribe to receive an automatic email notification
when a given shipment reaches its destination so as to serve as a
reminder to place a follow-up phone call with the recipient. A
second and third registered users may subscribe to be notified if
the shipment is delayed (does not reach a particular location or
status by a particular time) such that remedial measures may be
taken.
[0096] When the execution system 104 is adapted to provide tracking
and tracing information to buyers, it has a shipment status
interface (not shown in the figures) for use by the sellers to
convey real-time or near real-time information regarding the status
of shipments in transit. At steps 480 and 480', the status
information transferred into the execution system 104 via its
shipment status interface provides updates regarding shipments that
are either scheduled for delivery (as the result of an accepted
tender offer or purchase order) or en route. These updates can
include when the carrier expects the route to leave, when the route
has left a distribution center, when the route has arrived at a
particular crossdock, warehouse or distributor, as well as expected
delays either at the carrier end or at the location end. The
execution system 104 then provides the status updates to the
database system 107 where it is stored and made accessible to
customers via the interactive web site provided by web platform
system 106. Alternatively, in addition to being sent to the
database system 107 for storage, status updates can be routed
directly to users using via EDI system 105. In this manner, buyers
and sellers can exchange track and trace information automatically
into their internal optimization and planning systems.
[0097] When status updates are sent in real time from a carrier
during steps 480 and 480', as described above these messages can be
used to cause execution system 104 to trigger alarm generation and
subscription based status notifications. Such alarms and
notifications, for example, can be used to send shipment update
emails to one or more buyer users such as a buyer user serving a
role as a transportation planning manager, a buyer user who is a
sales office employee, etc.
[0098] Additionally, it is further preferred that in the second
embodiment of the present invention the execution system 104 is
linked to the billing accounts payable/receivable process of buyers
and/or sellers. In this manner, a bill generation/payment
electronic data interchange ("EDI") event could be automatically
triggered to the proper seller's/buyer's remote accounts
receivable/payable computer systems when a shipment reaches its
destination for payment on delivery transactions. Additionally,
interfaces with the accounts payable and receivable systems of
particular buyers and sellers can be utilized to factor in credit
limits and available credit in the determination of whether to
accept or reject tender offers and purchase orders. This final
optional step in the execution of auction originating and catalog
originating transactions is indicated in FIGS. 4a and 4b as steps
490 and 490', respectively.
[0099] Specific systems and methods for implementing electronic
tracking and tracing of various shipments while in route and for
integrating automated invoice generation and bill payment are fully
disclosed by U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/882,257, filed
Jun. 18, 2001, the specification of which having already been
incorporated by reference in its entirety above.
[0100] As shown in FIGS. 5a and 5b, according to preferred
embodiments of the present invention the exchange network 101
employs a three-tier security regime to help manage roles and
responsibilities of the various users for each buyer and each
seller. This three-tier preferred security regime distinguishes
between companies 501 (buyer or seller), groups 502, and users 503.
Groups 502 are subsets of companies 501, and users 503 are subsets
of companies 501 and/or groups 502. As demonstrated in FIGS. 5a and
5b, each group 502 and user 503 may only belong to one company 501,
but any user 503 can be associated with more than one group. In
this manner, rights and permissions can be assigned on a company
501, group 502, and user 503 basis to assist in the security
maintenance process. Thus, for example, a particular buyer company
could establish its roles such that only one user would have the
authority to initiate auctions, only users who are members of a
first particular group can submit purchase orders via catalog
transactions, and only users who are members of a second particular
group can submit buyer bids in seller's auctions. Simultaneously,
however, all users of the buyer company could be granted permission
to review tracking and tracing information for scheduled and in
transit shipments.
[0101] In alternative preferred embodiments, additional tiers to
the security regime can be provided to enable collaborative efforts
between separate companies. This fourth tier would be above the
company level and take multiple users 503, groups 502 and/or
companies 501 as members. Thus, while groups 502 and users 503
could only be members of one company 501, they could be members of
more than one collaborative venture. Roles and responsibilities for
each user of the venture can then be allocated similar to the
manner described above with respect to the three tier regime of
FIGS. 5a and 5b.
[0102] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the
above optimization, execution and payment handling algorithms may
be modified to take into account specific needs and/or problems
encountered in particular industries or situations. Thus, the
illustrative algorithm should not be construed to limit the present
invention as is claimed.
[0103] Although the present invention is preferably implemented in
software, this is not a limitation of the present invention as
those of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that the present
invention can be implemented in hardware or in various combinations
of hardware and software, without departing from the scope of the
invention. Modifications and substitutions by those of ordinary
skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the
present invention, which is not to be limited except by the claims
that follow.
[0104] The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of
the present invention has been presented for the purposes of
illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive
or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. It will be
apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed
embodiments and concepts of the present invention without departing
from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended
that the present invention covers the modifications and variations
of this invention provided that they come within the scope of any
claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *